My Years at Hogwarts repost part 2 : The Chamber of Secrets
by HarryStoleTheTardis
Summary: part two of the repost from my old account. Enjoy! Prisoner of Azkaban will be out soon!
1. Chapter 1

Hello my loyal readers!

Here it is! The second story in my series! R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter!

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Laurie's POV:

One word: bored. That was the word that described how I felt during my first summer after being at Hogwarts for a year. Hogwarts was 100 times more exciting than my house! The only exciting thing that had happened over the summer so far was me being able to see my best friend Sara Ridgecrest a couple of times. Sara and I hadn't seen much of each other over the summer, because Sara was busy getting her twin sisters ready for their first year at Hogwarts. Luckily, I would have my best friend back when we went back to Hogwarts for our second year.

* * *

On August 20th, my parents told me to put on one of my best dresses and to stay in my room until they called me down. I was used to this routine, because this is what I was told to do whenever we had guests coming. Sure enough, ten minutes later the doorbell rang. "Laurie! Open the door for our guests please!" "Okay!" I skipped down the stairs and went up to the front door. I opened it and saw Draco Malfoy standing outside. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" I asked, surprised. "My father didn't let me know until about an hour ago. I'm just as surprised as you are." "Draco! I thought I told you to wait!" A voice called sharply. "And that would be my father." Draco said. Draco's father came up the walkway. "Good afternoon, Miss Greengrass." "Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy. It's nice to meet you." "I can't believe I haven't met you sooner. Draco talks about you all the time at home." Draco blushed and mumbled something that sounded like "embarrassing me" but I couldn't be sure. "Please come in." I led them into the sitting room where my parents were waiting. "Laurie, why don't you take Draco upstairs and show him your room while the grown-ups talk?" My mother asked.

"Okay." I led Draco upstairs towards my room. I stopped in front of my bedroom door and turned to Draco. "You can't tell anybody about this, okay? My room is full of books written by Muggles. I like to read them when I'm bored or feeling sad. They always cheer me up." "Okay. I won't tell anyone, but why would you even like books written by Muggles?" "They're really good at building suspense. There's this one book series that I really like and it's called The Secret Series. It's by a Muggle named Pseudonymous Bosch. Well, at least that's his pen name. I don't know if that's his real name or not." "Could I read the first book in the series?" Draco asked. "I thought that you really didn't like Muggles?" "Well, you seem to like Muggle books, so I might as well give them a chance.

We spent the next hour reading. My parents came upstairs after Draco had left to see if I wanted to go to Diagon Alley to go get school supplies and then eat dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. I figured that we might as well get it out of the way, so I hopped up from my window seat, and we went to Diagon Alley. However, when we got there, it was super crowded andmy parents and I agreed that it would be better to get school supplies closer to the end of the month.

Sorry it was such a short chapter! I promise that the next one will be longer! The more reviews I get, the faster I will update! No flames, please! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. However, if I did, I would probably make a version of Harry Potter on ice!

Laurie's POV:

The month of August was finally coming to a close and I was super happy about that. My parents had dropped me off in Diagon Alley with Sara and her family to shop for last minute school supplies.

We met Harry and Hermione outside Flourish and Blotts. Harry was covered in soot and I couldn't help but ask him how he had gotten so dirty. He went into a long tale about using Floo powder for the first time and how he ended up in Knockturn Alley. "I ended up inside a shop called Borgin and Burke's and Draco was there with his dad. They were selling some stuff and I almost got caught, but I was able to sneak out after they left." He finished. "Well, at least you're okay, Harry." I replied. My mind was racing. Why would Draco be inside a shop that sold dark objects? Why would his dad be selling dark objects and why didn't Harry go into more detail about what happened in that shop? I decided to confront Draco about when we were on the train.

We entered the bookshop and there was a huge group of people standing in the center of the shop where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing autographs. When he saw Harry, he immediately stopped what he was doing and grabbed Harry to get a picture for the Daily Prophet. Harry also received Gilderoy's entire set of books free of charge! When he got back to our group, the Weasleys had also joined us and Harry insisted that Ron got the set of books, because Harry, Hermione, and I all knew that his family could hardly afford new schoolbooks and robes. Mrs. Weasley told us to wait in the back of the store while she got the books signed. We headed towards the back and Draco was there.

He obviously didn't see me, because I was hidden from view by Hermione, Sara, and Ginny who were directly in front of me. "Bet you loved that didn't you, Potter? Famous Harry Potter! Can't even go into a book shop without getting his name on the front page!" I was furious. I tried to jump out from behind Hermione and Ginny but Ginny beat me to telling him off. "Leave him alone!" She snarled. "Oh look, Potter! You've got yourself a girlfriend!" Lucius Malfoy came up to us. "Now, now, Draco. Play nicely. Mr. Potter, I don't believe that we've met." He extended his hand as if he wanted Harry to shake it, but instead he brushed aside the hair on Harry's forehead to reveal his scar shaped like a bolt of lightning. "Forgive me. Your scar is legend. As is the wizard who gave it to you."

Harry frowned. I couldn't blame him. I was angry, too. However, I was more angry at Draco for making fun of him as opposed to anything else. Harry glared at Lucius Malfoy. "Voldemort killed my parents. He was nothing more than a murderer." He half-stated, half-growled at Lucius. Lucius looked amused. "You must be very brave to speak his name. Or very foolish." Hermione spoke up. "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Lucius turned to look at her. "You must be Miss Granger. Yes, Draco's told me all about you and your parents. Muggles, aren't they?" He turned to Ron and Ginny. "Let's see, red hair, vacant expressions, tattered, second-hand books. You must be Weasleys." Arthur Weasley came toward us from the front of the store. "It's really crowded in here, why don't you lot go outside and wait there."

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley." Mr. Weasley glared at him. "Lucius." He replied stiffly. "You must be having a busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime. However, by the look of your children's attire, I would say not. Dear me. What is the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" "We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." "Clearly." Lucius gestured towards Hermione's parents, who Mrs. Wealey was talking to. "The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought that your family could sink no lower."

Mr. Weasley ignored him. "Come on, kids. We need to get Ginny a wand. You and Sara are welcome to join us, Laurie." "Thank you for the offer Mr. Weasley, but Sara and I are going to the Owl Emporium for owls next." "Bye, Laurie. We'll see you at school!" Hermione called after me. Lucius Malfoy looked shocked to see me. "You know them Miss Greengrass?" I nodded. "Harry , Ron, and Hermione are my friends. My parents want me to try and be friends with them, because they think that they are a good influence. I've learned that if you treat others the way you would like to be treated, then it can go a long way." Draco's jaw looked like it was going to hit the floor. Lucius, shocked, said goodbye and turned to Draco. "For goodness sake, son, shut your mouth before you catch a fly. Let's go get that order of racing brooms for the Quidditch team."

After they left, I turned to Sara and her family, who had finally finished paying for the school books. "Who was that?" The twins, Sabrina and Sharon asked. "That was my friend, Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy." "He doesn't seem very nice." Sharon stated. "He could have just been having a bad day." Sara mumbled. "There you go again, Sara. You always try to see the best in people, but trust me, I know for a fact that Draco gets his arrogance from his father. I've known it since they came to my house over the summer to discuss something important with my dad, but I don't know what it was, so please don't ask me."

Sara and I both got Little Owls. Sara named hers Flash, because he was so fast and I named mine Hermes, because Hermes was the Greek messenger god and owls delivered messages. Sara slept over at my house that night with all of her supplies, because we were going to be getting on the train the next day.

THAT'S IT FOR THIS CHAPTER! REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

Sara's POV:

The train ride to Hogwarts was uneventful. Laurie sat with Cedric and I on the train, because she was still upset with Draco. When we got to the school, I was surprised to see Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table without Harry and Ron beside her. I wondered where they were. Laurie was sitting with Millicent Bulstrode far away from Draco. Every now and then they would shoot Draco a glare.

"So, why are Draco and Laurie not speaking to each other again?" Cedric asked me for what seemed like the 50th time. "I told you, Laurie is still mad at Draco for not apologizing for his behavior in Diagon Alley." "So, he didn't apologize to Laurie?" "No, he apologized to Laurie, but he absolutely refused to apologize to Harry, Ron, and Hermione." "Doesn't take much to upset Laurie, does it?" "Well, when you hurt people close to her, she isn't happy. She can be a little bit of a drama queen sometimes, though."

Harry and Ron showed up a little after the feast. They missed the train for some reason, and they had flown the Weasley family's flying car into the Whomping Willow. Then, according to them, the car dumped their luggage out and drove off into the Forbidden Forest.

"You are so lucky that you weren't expelled!" I told them the next morning at breakfast. However, the detentions that the boys had that week made up for it. Laurie was sitting with us at breakfast, because she wanted to be as far away from Draco as possible. "Hey, Ron, is that your owl?" She asked, pointing at the barn owl flying towards the Gryffindor table. Errol crash-landed into Ron's bowl of cereal and I couldn't help but laugh. "The bloody bird's a menace." Ron muttered as he took a red envelope out of the owl's mouth. "OH NO!" He exclaimed, looking scared. "Hey, look everybody! Weasley's got himself a Howler!" Seamus Finnegan shouted. "You'd better get it over with, Ron." Neville told him. "I got one from my Gran once. It was horrible." The minute Ron opened the envolope, his mother's voice filled the room. She was screaming. "RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME! Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud."

On our way down to Herbology, Ron's face was still as red as his hair as Hermione and I compared our schedules. We walked into greenhouse 3 and Professor Sprout was standing at the end of a table covered in plants. "We're repotting Mandrakes today! Now, can anybody tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" Hermione raised her hand. "Mandrake, or Mandragora return people who have been petrified to their original state. It's also quite dangerous. The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it." "Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now, our Mandrakes are still very young, so their cries won't kill you yet, but they can knock you out for several hours, which is why I have given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection." Proffessor Sprout made it look so easy, but it was really hard to repot Mandrakes, especially, because they didn't want to come out of the earth. By the time class was over, each and every one of us was covered in dirt, but I was still happy. My year was starting off well. I just hoped that Laurie and Draco started speaking again soon, because I wasn't sure how much more drama I could take!


	4. Chapter 4

Laurie's POV:

For the first couple of months, things at Hogwarts were running quite smoothly aside from the fact that Draco and I were still not speaking. Every time I tried to go up to him to apologize for being dramatic, he would get up and leave, probably thinking that I was going to yell at him. Luckily, I had the chance to talk to him after a very dramatic event right outside the Great Hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadn't shown up for dinner and Sara and I were getting worried. As we were leaving the Great Hall, we heard Filch yelling down a corridor. We all went in the direction of the screaming and saw Filch yelling at Harry, Hermione, and Ron about them killing his cat. "YOU MURDERED MY CAT! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" "Argus!" Dumbledore emerged from the crowd followed by a number of other teachers.

Draco had finally caught up with me. That's when we both noticed the writing on the wall. _THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN REOPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE. "_Enemies of the heir beware?" Draco asked, thinking aloud. He looked toward Hermione and then glanced over at Colin Creevey. "You'll be next, Mudbloods." I kicked him. "Hey!" "That will do, Mr. Malfoy." Snape said, not very sternly. "Everyone go back to your dormitories." Dumbledore ordered. Everyone except Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger."

When we got to the Slytherin Common Room, Draco turned to me. "Look, I'm sorry. I have a reputation to keep you know." "So your goal is for everyone at Hogwarts to hate you?" "It's complicated. Anyway, I can tell you a little bit about what's going on, but not right now. It's too early for me to say anything yet. And you have to keep your mouth shut about it, because I could get into trouble with my father." I wanted to question him further, but I was so relieved that he was speaking to me again that I just decided to save my questions for later.

* * *

The next morning Sara came running up to the Slytherin table to talk to me. "I just talked to Harry. He thinks he knows who petrified Mrs. Norris." "I have potions with the Gryffindors today," I said, checking my schedule."but I don't know who Snape is going to pair me up with."

Luckily, Snape paired me up with Hermione. As an excercise to represent "house unity" he paired every Gryffindor with a Slytherin, but I think that he just took it as an opportunity to take points away from Gryffindor if they weren't getting along with the Slytherins. "So, who does Harry think is behind the incident with Mrs. Norris." "Malfoy. He thinks that Draco's dad gave him the key to the chamber and that maybe the chamber was opened while his dad was at Hogwarts. We're going to figure out a way to find out if Draco is behind all of this." "I can help." I told her. "Draco and I started speaking again and he told me to keep my mouth shut, but if he's planning on doing something dangerous that could put the entire school in jeopardy, then we have to tell someone. However, he hasn't told me anything yet, so don't assume anything. Sometimes Draco can just be all talk." "Tell me about it." Hermione said knowingly. Snape came over to our potion and nodded approvingly.

Before we knew it, the day was over and we all went to bed excited for the quidditch match that would be going on the next day.


	5. Chapter 5

Laurie's POV:

The next morning, Hermione came up to me at breakfast. "Did you talk to Draco about what's going on?"

"Not yet. He wants the whole Mrs. Norris thing to calm down before he tells me anything." I replied.

"Okay, but we need to find out fast. I asked Professor McGonogall about the Chamber of Secrets and she told me that essentially the chamber was said to be the home of a monster. This monster was meant to kill anyone that was, in Salazar Slytherin's view, unfit to attend Hogwarts."

"So, muggleborns and maybe even half-bloods?" I asked. Hermione nodded. "So that means that you, Sara, and countless others are in danger. However, Mrs. Norris didn't get the full blast of it, so she was only petrified. Hey, wait a minute, I know Harry's down at the Quidditch pitch getting ready for the game, but where's Ron?"

"Trying to get some information out of Moaning Myrtle. The chamber was opened while she went to school here, so she may know something. Now, c'mon! Let's go to the Quidditch match!"

* * *

The first five minutes of the Quidditch match went pretty smoothly. Slytherin was ahead by twenty points, probably because Draco's father had gotten the whole team Nimbus 2001's. I knew that it was just bribery to get Draco on the team as the seeker. Suddenly, a bludger made a complete u-turn and headed straight for Harry. Harry zoomed around the pitch and looped to try and throw the bludger off his trail. I heard Hagrid yell, "Harry's got 'imself a rogue bludger! Tha's been tampered with that 'as!" Harry finally got the bludger to stop chasing him and he flew towards the snitch. However, the bludger wasn't thrown off of his trail for long and, since Draco had spotted the snitch as well and he an Harry were neck and neck, Draco was in danger, too. They went under the stands to chase the snitch and the bludger followed.

Suddenly, Draco shot out from under the stands, fell off his broom, and landed in the middle of the pitch. He seemed okay, because he stood up, but then sat down again and put his face in his hands. Then, he looked up into the stands and mouthed the words "I'm sorry." I looked up into the stands where Draco was looking and I saw Lucius Malfoy staring at his son with a mixture of disappointment and anger. Well, I knew Draco was probably in for it later.

Harry had come out from under the stands and was reaching for the snitch when the rogue bludger hit him in the arm. He reached out with his one good arm and caught the snitch. He landed and rolled quickly out of the way to avoid the bludger hitting him again. Hermione, Ron, and I ran out onto the pitch, because the game was over. Hermione pointed her wand at the bludger and shouted. "Finite Incantatem!" The bludger exploded, but Harry was still holding his arm and his face was scrunched up from the pain. Gilderoy Lockhart ran onto the pitch. "Harry, I'll have that arm mended in one second." Before Harry could protest, Gilderoy muttered an incantation and Harry's arm glowed, but Gilderoy hadn't fixed Harry's arm. Instead he had removed the bones from Harry's arm, so Harry had to go to the Hospital Wing to regrow his bones.

* * *

When I confronted Draco the next morning, he told me what he knew about the Chamber of Secrets. "I don't know much, but my father said that the Chamber really is being opened again this year. That's all I know for sure. But I will say this: the last time the chamber was opened, a mudblood died,(he ignored my gasp at his crude language) so it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time. As for me, I hope it's Granger!" "Draco!" "I'm only kidding, Laurie!" "You better be!" "I am. Now go hang out with your friends! I have to go train with the rest of the Quidditch team now anyway!"

* * *

The weeks passed, and soon came one of the most horrible days of that year. It started with Professor McGonagall approaching me at breakfast in the Great Hall. She led Harry, Ron, Cedric, and I into the Hospital Wing. "Now, this may be a bit of a shock." Laying in two beds next to each other were Sara and Hermione, both petrified. "We found them both with these. Professor McGonagall handed me a purple hand mirror and she handed Harry a pink hand mirror. It was definitely a clue! "Now, I don't want any of you worrying. It's almost time for the mandrakes to be made into the reviving potion and your friends will be fine. I suggest you go back to your dormitories. You have exam studying to do."

However, studying was the last thing on our minds as we left the Hospital Wing. "I've gotta go. I'll see you three later." Cedric said, almost like he was about to cry. He hurriedly walked away from us.

"Okay, Draco didn't tell me anything helpful, so what did you get, Ron?"I asked.

"Well, Moaning Myrtle told me that she had been crying in the bathroom, because people had been making fun of her. Then she said she heard a boy speaking some weird language. I'm guessing that was Parseltongue, like you can speak, Harry. Then she said she came out of the bathroom stall and saw a pair of big yellow eyes by the sinks. Then she died." "What should we do?" I asked. "Hey, guys..." Harry started, but Ron and I ignored him. "Well, Hagrid is gone and Dumbledore is gone, because the ministry took them away, so we can't go to Dumbledore." "Hey, guys..." Harry repeated a little more urgently. "Well, what if we went to McGonagall about it?" "Hey, guys!" Harry yelled, finally getting our attention. "I found this diary a long time ago and when I wrote in it, it wrote back to me." He said, holding up an old black diary. "I'm pretty sure it gave me false information about the Chamber of Secrets, because things just don't add up. Ron and I talked to an old spider, Aragog, one of Hagrid's old pets, and he gave us the clues that led us to believe that Moaning Myrtle was the one that died years ago. I think that that part is true, but I also found this in Hermione's hand. He handed me a crumpled piece of paper, obviously a page torn out of an old book. "Go on, read it." I took a deep breath.

"'Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.' Hey, there's a word that Hermione wrote down here: Pipes. "

Suddenly, a lightbulb went on in Harry's head. "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the chamber is a basilisk, a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue. The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died, because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. Justin must have seen the baslisk through Nearly Headless Nick! But Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again, and Hermione and Sara were found with mirrors. Once Hermione found out that the monster was a basilisk, I bet she told Sara to look around corners with a mirror first, so Sara pulled out her mirror and..." "And Mrs. Norris?" I asked. "There was water coming from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom that night. She must have seen its reflection in the water." I scanned the page for more clues. "Yeah, it makes a lot of sense! I remember Hagrid's roosters were killed earlier in the year. The crow of the rooster is fatal to a basilisk." "But how has it been getting around the place if no one's really seen i aside from those who have been petrified?" Ron asked. I pointed to the word Hermione had written at the bottom of the page. "Pipes. It's been using the plumbing. Let's go to the staffroom. We have to tell McGonagall. She should be there."

However, the minute we got to the staffroom, McGonagall's magnified voice echoed through the corridors. "All students are to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately, please." Harry motioned for us to follow him into the staffroom. "C'mon. Let's hide in this wardrobe and listen to their conversation. Then we can tell them what we have found out." We looked through the crack between the double doors of the wardrobe and watched the teachers arrive. Finally, Professor McGonagall came in. "It's happened. A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the chamber itself." Professor Snape gripped the back of a chair and said "How can you be sure?" "There was a message on the wall right under the first one. It said: 'Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever.'" "Who is it?" Madam Hooch asked. "Ginny Weasley." I grabbed Ron's hand and gave it a small squeeze. It was horrible. His own sister was going to die. Well, not if I could help it.

Suddenly, Lockhart burst into the staffroom. "Sorry, I dozed off. What have I missed?" Snape turned to Lockhart. "Just the man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last." "Yes, we'll leave it to you, Gilderoy. Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free reign at last." "F-fine. I-I'll be in my office getting ready." He left the room. "The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. The Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Hogwarts is no longer safe." One by one, the teachers rose and left. "Come on! We have to do something! I say we go into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with Lockhart and save Ginny." I said. "Okay, we need to at least try." Ron replied, and we headed down to Lockhart's office.

"Oh, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Ms. Greengrass. I'm rather busy at the moment." "Professor, we've got some information for you. We think that it will help."Harry said. He opened the door. His room had been completely stripped. Everything was packed up. "Going somewhere?" I asked. "Well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable, actually. I've got to go." What about my sister?" Ron asked. "Well, I'm sorry... no one regrets it more than I... most unfortunate." "But you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Harry exclaimed. "You can't go now." "Well-when I took the job-didn't say anything in the job description." "You're running away? After all the stuff you did in your books?" I asked. "Books can be misleading, Laurie." "YOU WROTE THEM!" "Laurie, do use your common sense. My books woudn't have sold half as well if people didn't think that **I** did all of those things. No one wants to read about an ugly warlock with no fashion sense, even if he did save a village from werewolves." So, you've just been taking credit for things that other people have done?" Asked Harry. "There was a lot of work involved for me to do it properly, though. I had to track these people down, find out exactly how they did what they did, and then put a memory charm on them so they would not remember doing it." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at us. "Awfully sorry, you three, but I'm afraid I have to use a memory charm on you so you don't go blabbing my secrets all over the place." "Expelliarmus!" I shouted. His wand flew out of his hand and Ron caught it. "What do you want me to do? I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do." "You're in luck." I said. "We know where it is and what's in it. Let's go."

When we got to the girl's bathroom, Harry spoke Parseltongue at the sink Ron had gestured towards. It sank out of sight and a large pipe took its place. The pipe was large enough to slide down and we sent Gilderoy down first. Ron went second. Right when Harry was getting in the pipe, he turned to me. "Laurie, go back to the dungeons. Draco's probably worried about you." "No, I want to come with you." "It's too dangerous." "Harry, Ginny is my friend as well as Hermione and Sara. I am coming with you." "It's not a good idea." "I will be fine. Trust me, please. If it wasn't for my help, you might not even have figured everything out. Let me come." "Okay, but you have to listen to me." "Harry Potter, you are only 13 days older than me. You can't boss me around! However, under these circumstances I will listen to you." "Okay, you follow me right after I start going down. On 3. 1, 2 3." He let go and slid down the pipe. I jumped in and followed until the pipe leveled out and I landed next to Harry, Lockhart, and Ron in a stone tunnel large enough to stand up in.


	6. Chapter 6

Laurie's POV:

Lockhart and the boys were getting to their feet. "We must be miles under the school." Harry comented.

"By the looks of it, we're under the lake." I replied. We lit our wands and began to walk through the dark tunnel.

"Remember, any sign of movement and you close your eyes right away." There was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on something that turned out to be a rat skull. We soon found that the floor of the tunnel was covered with small animal bones. Harry bravely led us forward around a dark bend.

"Uh, Harry, there's something up ahead." Ron half whimpered. The light from Harry's wand slid over a huge snake skin that was lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The thing that had shed it must have been at least twenty feet long.

"Blimey." Ron said weakly. I gulped. There was a small thud behind us. Apparently Lockhart's knees gave out.

"Get up!" I said sharply, pointing my wand at Lockhart. He got to his feet, but caught Ron off guard by jumping on him and knocking him to the ground. Harry and I jumped forward, but it was too late, Lockhart had gotten ahold of Ron's Spellotaped wand and he pointed it at the three of us.

"The adventure ends here, you three! I will take a bit of this skin back up to the school and tell them that I was too late to save the girl and that you three tragically lost your minds when you saw her mangled body! Say goodbye to your memories! _Obliviate!"_ The wand exploded not unlike a small bomb. Harry and I flung our arms over our heads and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin. The next thing we knew, we were standing by ourselves gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.

"Ron?" I shouted. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. This git's not, though. He got blasted by the wand, but what now? We can't get through. It will take ages."

"You try and shift some of this rock, so that we can get back through. Laurie and I will go to find Ginny." We continued walking through the tunnel. My heart was beating faster, but I knew I was safe with Harry. I mean, he defeated You-Know-Who twice! Then, at last, we came up on a solid wall on which two entwined snakes were carved.

"Well, go ahead Harry. Speak Parseltongue to it." Harry made the strange hissing noise that he had made to open the chamber and, sure enough, the snakes parted as the wall slid into two halves and we walked inside.

* * *

Slowly, we moved forward. Then, as we came up on a huge pair of pillars, we saw a huge statue standing against the back wall. And, between the two enormous, grey feet, facedown, was a small, black-robed figure with red hair. "Ginny!" I cried. Harry and I ran to her and Harry flipped her over.

"Ginny, don't be dead. Please don't be dead." He flung his wand to the side and I reached for it, but a black-haired boy who looked to be about four years older than me beat me to it. I immediately hid my wand from view. "Ginny, please wake up." The strange boy spoke.

"She won't wake." Harry turned to look at him.

"Tom Riddle? Are you a ghost?"

"A memory preserved in a diary for fifty years."

"You've got to help us to get Ginny out of here."

"Yeah." I piped up. "There's a basilisk. It could be along at any moment."

"It won't come unless it's called." He was twirling Harry's wand between his fingers.

"What do you mean it won't come unless it's called? Look, I might need my wand back." Harry said.

"You won't be needing it." Riddle replied. "I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter. Just to speak to you." I cleared my throat.

"Um, if you haven't noticed, Tom, this isn't the right place to be having a nice chat." Riddle ignored me.

"Now, let's talk."

"Can't we talk later?" Harry asked.

"We can talk now." Riddle replied. There was something funny going on here and I didn't like it one bit.

"How did Ginny get like this?" I asked, knealing down next to Harry and Ginny. "Well, that's an interesting question and it's quite a long story. I suppose the reason that Ginny Weasley is like this is because she opened here heart to a complete stranger."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"The diary. MY diary. Ginny has been writing in it for months telling me all of her pitiful worries and woes, like how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, and how she didn't think that famous Harry Potter would ever like her." There was a hungry look in Tom Riddle's eyes. It was really creeping me out. "You know, it is rather boring having to listen to the woes of an eleven-year-old girl, but I was patient, sympathetic, and kind. Ginny loved me. 'No one's understood me like you, Tom. I'm so glad that I have this diary to write in. It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket.'" He laughed a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him whatsoever. It made me shiver. "If I do say so myself, I am highly capable of charming the people I need. Ginny poured out her soul to me and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I soon became powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley some of my secrets to start pouring a bit of my soul into her." Harry looked confused. "Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?"

"Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets." I whispered.

"Right you are, Lauren." "What? How do you know my name?"

"Well obviously I wanted to know about some of the people in my house and I have found that you are the most interesting Slytherin I 've ever heard of. Honestly, I think that the sorting hat made a mistake with you. You don't belong in Slytherin. You don't seem cunning or sly or any of the other traits that a Slytherin usually has."

"You're wrong!" Harry replied sharply. "Laurie helped me figure out what was going on. If it wasn't for her getting information from Draco Malfoy and sneaking around the castle some to help find clues, I might not have figured out what was going on how to get into the chamber!"

"A Slytherin? Helping a Gryffindor? Don't make me laugh. She wanted to take the glory for herself the entire time, didn't you?"

"No. That's not true! I'm no ordinary Slytherin and because of that I am already twice the person that you will ever be! And Harry is the same!"

"Well, let's head back to the main subject of our conversation. Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets, she strangled the school roosters and put those messages on the wall. She set that basilisk on four Mudbloods, a half-blood, and that Squib's cat. Unfortunately, I didn't mean to petrify the half-blood. I'm a half-blood myself and I didn't think that one of the Mudbloods would be with a half-blood or a pureblood when the attack occurred. Nonetheless, Ginny performed those tasks beautifully."

"No." Harry whispered.

"Yes, although she didn't know she was doing it for the longest time. When she finally became suspicious of the diary and tried to dispose of it that's where you came in, Harry. You picked it up and I couldn't have been more delighted. You were the person I really wanted to meet."

"Why would you want to meet me so badly?"

"You see, Ginny told me your whole fascinating history. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that oaf Hagrid to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's our friend!" I shouted. "And you framed him, didn't you?"

"Well, it was my word against his, Lauren. He didn't stand a chance, but even I have to admit that the plan worked better than I thought. Only Dumbledore believed that Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed. He never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did."

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you." Harry said with gritted teeth.

"Well, he certainly kept a close eye on me after Hagrid was expelled. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I had spent searching for it. i decided to leave behind a diary that preserved my sixteen-year-old self within the pages so that one day I could lead another in my footsteps and finish what Slytherin started."

"Well, you haven't finished it!" I snapped. "In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be ok again."

"You stupid girl. Once again you astound me with your ignorance and the fact that you even made it into Slytherin. I feel sure that I have said already that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target," He turned to Harry, "has been you." Harry and I just stared at him. "Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me and not you. She saw you with the diary and panicked. What if you found out how to work it and I told you al of her secrets. What if I told you that it was she who had been attacking people? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was empty and stole it back. But I knew what to do. You were already hot on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything that Ginny had told me about you, i knew that you would stop at nothing to solve the mystery, especially if one of your best friends was attacked." He looked over at me and smirked. Then he turned back to Harry."So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and then come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her. She put too much into me and that diary. Enough to let me leave its pages at last. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" He spat.

"Well, how is it that you, a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent whatsoever, managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter. He took Harry's wand from out of his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three words: Tom Marvolo Riddle. Then he waved the wand once and the letters rearranged themselves: I am Lord Voldemort "You see? it was a name that I was already using at school to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think that I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out that his wife was a witch? No, I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew that wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

"You're not!"I shouted.

"Not what?"

"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world! Sorry to disappoint you, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore! Everyone says so."

"Yeah." Harry joined in."Even when you were strong you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw right through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days."

The smile had completely disappeared from Riddle's face. "Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!"

"He's not as gone as you think!" Harry replied defiantly. Suddenly, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix came swooping in. It flew straight at Harry and dropped the ragged thing that it was carrying at Harry's feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder.

"That's a phoenix." Riddle stated softly. "And that," he pointed to the ragged thing on the floor. "is the old school sorting hat." He began to laugh. "This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave now, Harry? Do you feel safe now?"

"He is safe, because not only is he a great wizard, but he won't have to face you alone! He's got me!"

"Oh really? You don't seem to have your wand with you."

I tried to summon all of my Slytherin personality to lie convincingly. I hung my head. "You're right. I don't have my wand."

"Precisely. _Petrificus Totalus!" _He waved Harry's wand and the spell hit me. I felt every muscle in my body lock up. I couldn't move. I fell over and everything went black.

The next thing I knew, Harry was shaking me awake, and Riddle was gone. But a huge snake was lying dead in the chamber where he had stood.

* * *

"How did you defeat him?" I noticed the diary to his right had a huge hole in it. Harry was also holding a sword.

"The basilisk came when Tom called it. Then, after putting up a fight, it finally bit me on the arm and I had pulled this sword out of the sorting hat and I slayed the snake with it. Then Fawkes cried on my wound and it healed."

"Oh yeah, phoenix tears have healing powers." I interjected.

"Then I had the basilisk fang that I had pulled out of my arm and Riddle was laughing at me. I was so angry that i didn't really know what I was doing, but I stabbed the diary and Tom disappeared in a bright light. And here we are."

I jumped at a small groan a few feet away from us. "Oh my gosh, Ginny!" I ran over to her with Harry close behind.

Ginny looked at us startled and then began to cry. "Harry, Lauren, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't say in front of my brothers. It was me, but I-I s-swear t-that I didn't mean to- Tom made me! He took me over-and-how did you kill that snake and where's Riddle? The last thing that I can remember is him coming out of the diary."

"Ginny, calm down. It's okay. Riddle's finished along with the basilisk. Let's get out of here." Harry told her.

"But I'll be expelled! I've been looking forward to Hogwarts for so long! Now I'll have to leave and what will Mum and Dad say?"

Harry and I urged her forward through the tunnel and we sped up when we heard the sound of shifting rock. "Ron!" I shouted. "We've got her!"

"Ginny!" He reached out an arm through the space that he had made in the rock. Ginny went through first, then me, then Harry. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened. And where did that bird come from?" Fawkes had swooped through the gap after Harry.

"He's Dumbledore's." Harry replied.

Gilderoy Lockhart was standing near the entrance of the tunnel looking confused.

"His memory's gone." Ron explained."The memory charm backfired and hit him instead of us. He hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here."

Lockhart just smiled at us and mumbled incomprehensively. Fawkes the phoenix swooped past Harry and was now fluttering his tail feathers as if he wanted Harry to grab hold. I gasped. "Harry, phoenixes are very strong. He can take us back up to the school. Quick, everyone hold hands!" Harry grabbed hold of the tail feathers and we were off. Below me I could hear Lockhart yelling. "Amazing! It's just like magic!"

When we got up to the first floor, we headed straight for Professor McGonagall's office. Harry knocked and pushed the door open.


	7. Chapter 7

There was a moment of silence as Harry, Lockhart, Ron, Ginny, and I covered in muck, slime, and, in mine and Harry's case, blood of both the basilisk and Harry himself. Then Mrs. Wealey screamed.

"Ginny!"

She jumped up from one of the armchairs by the fire and ran to Ginny, followed by Mr. Weasley. They both hugged her, relieved expressions crossing their faces along with joy and wonder. Then, she grabbed Harry, Ron and I and pulled us into the hug.

"You saved her! How did you three manage it?" she asked, finally letting us go.

"It's a long story." I replied, looking over at Harry.

Harry set the Sorting Hat, the sword, and Riddle's diary on McGonagall's desk and started telling them everything. I heard about him hearing the voice of the snake, Hermione figuring out that it was using the pipes, how he and Ron had followed spiders into the forest and met an old pet of Hagrid's, Aragog, who told them that Moaning Myrtle was the girl who had died all those years ago and how they found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in he bathroom.

"Very well, Potter, you found the entrance-breaking a hundred school rules in the process, might I add-but you still haven't told us what happened or how you managed to escape in one piece!" McGonagall stated, crossing her arms in confusion.

So Harry told them about meeting Riddle and fighting the Basilisk when Fawkes brought him the sorting hat which held the sword, but then he stopped suddenly. So far he had not mentioned the diary or Ginny and I wondered why. Dumbledore, who had been standing beside the desk the entire time, smiled faintly.

"How did Lord Voldemort manage to enchant Ginny while my sources tell me that he is currently in hiding in Albania?"

"What?" Mrs. Weasley sounded stunned. "En-enchant Ginny? But Ginny's not...she hasn't been...was she?"

"It was the diary." I said, finally speaking up for Harry, whose voice had grown hoarse from all the talking. "That much I know. I didn't see Harry fight the Basilisk, but I was there to talk to Riddle and he said that he had written in it when he was sixteen and he preserved himself in it somehow...I don't quite understand it, but..."

"I was writing to him and he's been writing back all year!" Ginny sobbed.

"Ginny! You should have known better! You can't trust anything that can think for itself if you can't find where it keeps it's brain. It was clearly full of Dark Magic."

"Miss Weasley should go to the Hospital wing. This has been a very traumatic ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than her have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Madam pomfrey is still awake. She is giving out Mandrake juice as we speak. there has been no lasting harm done."

The Weasleys, aside from Ron, walked out, ginny sniffling as she went.

"I think all this merits a good feast, Minerva. Might I ask you and Severus to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right." she replied crisply. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter and Weasley."

Then, I noticed for the first time that Professor Snape had been standing in the shadows the entire time.

"I'll leave you to handle Miss Greengrass along with Potter and Weasley, shall I?"

"Certainly." replied Dumbledore.

They both left, and Harry, ron, and I looked up at Dumbledore nervously. Were we about to be punished.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, I seem to remember telling you both that I would expel you if you broke anymore school rules. Miss Greengrass, you broke almost as many rules and I daresay that any headmaster or headmistress would not just let you off with a warning. Therefore, it is only fitting..."

'Oh, no. What will my parents say?' I thought to myself.

"...that you three will recieve Special Rewards for Services to the School and-let me see-yes, I think two hundred points apiece to Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively.

I couldn't believe it! I was stunned. I really thought I had been in for it.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure, why so modest, Gilderoy?"

"Professor, he tried to do a memory charm and it backfired." I quickly explained. "He has no idea who he is or where he is or who we are."

"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head. "Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore asked Ron. "I would like a few more words with Lauren and Harry.

Ron and Lockhart ambled out.

"Why don't the two of you sit down?"

We sat down on the couch by the fire.

"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you, and you as well, Lauren. You two must have shown me true loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you. And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at us. "And what do you think?"

"I don't like him!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean, I'm Gryffindor, but...he said that we were very much alike and that I should have been in Slytherin."

Harry continued, somewhat sadly. "The Sorting Hat had told me that I would have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought that I was Slytherin's heir for a while, because I can speak Parseltongue..."

"You can speak Parseltongue, because Voldemort transferred some of his powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure."

"So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face.

"The Sorting Hat-"

"Put you in Gryffindor."

"But sir, the sorting hat only put me in Gryffindor, because I asked it to." Harry continued

"Exactly. Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. Read the inscription on the sword, Harry."

"Godric Gryffindor."

Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat. I don't know everything that happened in that chamber, but I do know this, you both made it out alive and managed to save a student from a terrible fate. And, now, what you both need is food and sleep."

I followed Harry to the door, but it suddenly flew open so violently that it bounced back off the wall.

"Dobby?" Harry asked, looking at the House Elf standing beside Lucius Malfoy. He looked scared and helpless.

"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore, pleasantly.

"So! The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts. Have you stopped the attacks yet? Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have. It was the same person as last time, but this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else by means of this diary."

"I see..."

"A clever plan, because if Harry and Lauren, here, and Ron Weasley had not discovered this book, then Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame."

Lucius Malfoy looked flabbergasted. He stormed out of Dumbledore's office.

"Professor, " Harry said, hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy?"

"Certainly, Harry, but hurry."

Harry grabbed the diary and dashed off.

"Lauren, wait just one second. I want to ask you a few more questions."

"Of course, sir."

"Did you witness anything other than when Harry was talking to Riddle?"

"No, Sir, I got knocked out."

"Didn't you have your wand with you?"

"Yes, but Riddle had Harry's wand and used it on me before I could even get to mine."

"It was very brave of you to go down in the chamber with Harry."

"I try to look out for my friends."

"That's what I wanted to ask you about. As you can see, Lucius Malfoy is not a very good man, and I can see his son, Draco could easily be going down the same path. I know that you are friends with him, so maybe you can lead him down the right path. Will you keep an eye on him throughout your schooling here at Hogwarts?"

"Of course, Professor."

"Very well, you may go."

I stood up to leave, but then another question popped into my head.

"Professor, when I was down in the chamber with Harry, Riddle talked to me, too. He told me that I... didn't belong in Slytherin...that the Sorting Hat had made a big mistake."

"The Sorting Hat does not make mistakes, Lauren. I can assure you that he saw that your mind fit the bill for Slytherin."

"But I don't have any Slytherin qualities, Professor."

"You may not be very cunning, Lauren, and you may not be sly, but you are certainly ambitious, resourceful, and determined. Determined to help friends in need, whether they are your house's mortal enemy or not." he smiled. "You just add greatness to your house by showing house unity and that is very rare. And Slytherins are very famous for unexpected things, not always evil."

"Thank you, Sir."

"I think you will find your friends down at the feast now, including those that have been petrified. They should be awake now."

"So, Sara and Hermione are okay?"

"Yes, perfectly fine. Go enjoy the feast. I do believe that Harry is waiting outside for you to walk down to the feast."

I got up to leave for the second time and headed out the door. Harry was there waiting, and we walked down together.

Harry and I had been to several Hogwarts feasts, but but never one quite like this. Everybody was in their pajamas, and the celebration lasted all night long. There were so many great moments in it too, like Hermione and Sara running toward Harry and I screaming, "You solved it! You solved it!" or Hagrid turning up at half past three or the fact that my 200 house points along with Harry and ron's 400 had Slytherin and Gryffindor tied for the House Cup for the first time in a century or Professor McGonagall standing up to announce that all exams had been canceled as a school treat.

The rest of the term passed very quickly with only a few small differences. Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were canceled and Lucius Malfoy had been sacked as a school governor. Draco wasn't strutting around the school like he owned the place anymore. Even around me he ooked pretty resentful and sulky.

Soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, Sara, Cedric, and I got a compartment to ourselves.

"You have to write this summer!" I told Sara. "I'm not going to be home for very long, because Hermione invited me to come to France with her and her parents."

"I'll write, I promise." I hugged her.

When we arrived at King's Cross, I ran up to Draco once I spotted him.

"I know we've had our rough spots this year, but I still want to be friends with you, Draco. You just have to accept that, unlike most Slytherins, I get along with some Gryffindor students. And, just because your father isn't the nicest person on the planet, it doesn't mean that you have to be mean-spirited as well."

He nodded.

"Promise you'll write this summer, Lauren. I want to have someone to talk to other than the House Elves."

I laughed. "Okay, I will, but can we just start over as friends?"

He held out his right hand.

"Hi, I'm Malfoy. Draco, Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you, Draco, I'm Lauren." and we shook hands.

It felt good to have a new beginning with my first friend that I had made at Hogwarts, but I had other friends from Gryffindor that I had to say goodbye to for the summer as well.

Harry gave me, Ron, and Hermione his phone number when I told him that I could call him, because, surprisingly, I knew how to use a phone.

"Won't your aunt and uncle be proud of you, Harry?" I asked as we got off the train and joined the crowd that was slowly moving toward the enchanted barrier."When they hear about what you did this year?"

"Proud?" he laughed. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."

I smiled, and together we walked back into the Muggle world.


End file.
